> > Are you planning to connect to an old-fashioned (circa 20th century) > > analog NTSC television or a digital ATSC television? > > Well, it would be a PAL box seeing how I'm not in N.America. But I'm > not limiting myself to one type of TV, rather, I'd like to be able to > get where I'm going and show the family photos on their TV instead of > the laptop's tiny screen. Everyone has a different TV, I'd assume. > > > The details will > > differ but you should be able to configure the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file > > with the appropriate mode line(s), horizontal and vertical frequencies, > > etc. of what you are connecting to. > > I'd love to see examples. This is rather hard to google for, do you > maybe have a working xorg.conf that I could see for ideas? > > > I have nvidia cards that are > > configured to output to HDTVs via 1920x1080i mode lines. A simple > > connector/adapter will NOT change the output signal. I use a > > VGA-to-components adapter. It does NOT do any conversion - the output > > through the VGA port has to be ATSC 1920x1080i (or other HDTV format) > > for this to work. The output via VGA must match what your TV is able to > > handle as input. If it is an analog TV, then you need something like > > NTSC 680x480i or similar. > > It won't make much of an impression of Linux if I need to edit > xorg.conf and experiment to get TV-out while everyone is waiting... > > > You can buy real scan converters - I sold a > > unit I had for scan converting VGA to analog TV (no software is needed > > given it's doing scan conversion). > > I'll look for one of these, then. > > > (I believe there are HDTV type scan > > convertors which are more expensive than what I had.) But if you > > configure your video card correctly using xorg.conf and assuming your > > video card is capable, all you need is a simple connector from VGA to > > your TV's input port. An analog TV typically has a composite port (RCA > > type connector). Better analog TV's include an S-Video port for a > > slightly better picture (S-Video was what the venerable Commodore 64 > > could output). Digital HDTV's typically have component inputs (3 RCA > > type connectors) which are analog. The newest HDTV's also include > > digital inputs. > > With no DVI ports on the laptop, that doesn't help. > > Dotan Cohen When I'm at home I will upload my xorg.conf file. I found the information on the web - it's readily available. I would search for "modeline", "HDTV", "1920x1080", etc. or whatever (e.g., PAL). You should check the info on your video card to see what resolutions it handles. The original box it came in had the information but I'm sure you can find this on line. I should add that the connector or adapter I use to go from VGA to component output is actually not so simple. I bought an RCA unit (I don't remember the name and number and I can't check at the moment). It has a box but again it does not do scan conversion - it just changes the analog VGA to analog component output. This unit was made for RCA's HDTV tuner box (DTC100) to allow connection to HDTVs with only component inputs (and no VGA inputs). I have an RCA HDTV that includes a standard VGA input so I don't need the unit for that but the unit works fine with the VGA from video cards that support HDTV formats. HDTV ATSC formats are different from European formats. Rick B.
